Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: The Elusive Legacy on Perforation Mountain
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A night as dark as pitch black.
Namgung Hyeok soared up like a night predator, vaulting over the towering walls of the Hebei Peng Clan in a single bound.
He slipped over the wall without a sound or trace, emerging from the Hebei Peng Clan. In a deserted spot, Namgung Hyeok shook out his hands and muttered to himself.
"Damn, that was too easy."
Who would've thought there was a whistleblower!
"I almost didn't make it out tonight."
He had no intention of leaving Beijing until he found Hoemok's secret anyway, but wouldn't it be better to find it a day sooner?
"Goddamn weather. Feels colder than the Ice Palace."
In the past, he could've swum through the North Sea glaciers without feeling a chill.
Namgung Hyeok hunched his shoulders but grinned all the same.
Once he found Hoemok's secret, everything would fall into place.
Namgung Hyeok got his bearings and hummed as he set off.
'Perforation Mountain, right?'
Perforation Mountain was a small peak to the west of Beijing.
Its modest summits stretched out for hundreds of li in width.
The main peak was a puny thing, less than two hundred zhang high.
A flat, dull, unimpressive mountain.
Two hundred zhang?
At his current level, he could scale it with a single breath, up and down.
How tiny was this hill?
'The orthodox factions hid there, and I know the exact spot.'
With the location in hand, finding the pill-refining secret Hoemok left behind would be child's play.
He'd secretly watched Hoemok dig his burrow several times, so he was confident he could spot it right away.
He'd know it the moment he saw it.
Why did Hoemok dig that burrow?
To pass on the pill-refining secrets he'd recorded to Shaolin.
He hoped the surviving Shaolin descendants after the Demonic Blood Cataclysm would find its traces.
Naturally, he'd left markers—and unfortunately for him, Namgung Hyeok remembered them.
"Sorry, Hoemok. I need to survive too."
To reiterate, he'd write it down and return it.
Just borrowing it for a bit!
No reason to feel guilty.
'If you didn't want to share, you should've lived longer.'
Like me, living twice... Sigh, frustrating.
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue and hurried toward Perforation Mountain.
Before long, he came face-to-face with it.
A quaint little mountain less than fifty li from the Hebei Peng Clan.
"Haha, more like the local hill behind the village."
Namgung Hyeok snickered.
"Guess I can head back to Anhui Province in no time."
Seeing the mountain filled him with leisure.
'So, they hid at the main peak of Perforation Mountain?'
It was over seventy years ago. But knowing the general area made it easy to find.
Namgung Hyeok immediately headed to the spot Black Spot had indicated.
He strolled up the steep mountain path as casually as taking a walk.
Leaping two zhang per step, Namgung Hyeok searched for traces of Hoemok.
Hoemok had been meticulous.
Meticulous to the point of obsession.
'The guy who even recorded how many breaths he took while refining pills.'
Hard to believe a lunatic like that came from Shaolin.
Anyway, that fastidious, nitpicky Hoemok had left markers in his burrow just as you'd expect.
It was a burrow practically begging to be found, so maybe it was natural.
'Find one marker, and it's over.'
Hoemok's markers were highly distinctive.
You could tell at a glance they'd come from him.
True to his bones as a Shaolin monk, he'd used depictions of animals embodying one of Shaolin's signature fist techniques, the Shaolin Five Fists, as his markers.
The problem? Hoemok was terrible at drawing.
You wouldn't know if it was a crane or an earthworm just by looking.
If Namgung Hyeok hadn't secretly watched him leave the markers, he wouldn't have even realized they were markers instead of doodles.
"Monk, that's why Shaolin still hasn't found your secret."
Hoemok's crude drawings had surely played a part in Shaolin failing to locate it.
"Tsk tsk."
Still, it was kind of fun.
Brought back old memories.
Imagining him digging the burrow while fleeing demonic cultists, painstakingly leaving markers—it was funny and sad at the same time.
Namgung Hyeok lightly clicked his tongue and kept walking.
He headed toward where the orthodox group had hidden, organizing his thoughts.
Decades had passed, so the markers might not be intact.
But given Hoemok's personality, he'd left multiples.
Dozens, hundreds, carved deep into rocks and cliffs to withstand erasure.
Using Shaolin's One Finger Zen Skill, which could crumble stone like tofu.
Markers embedded with One Finger Zen Skill would last over a century easily.
"A fork in the path around here, then follow straight toward the cliff..."
Sure enough, a cliff came into view, just as Black Spot described.
The mountain wasn't tall, so it was more a steep slope than a true cliff.
Anyway, descend under this cliff to the hiding spot, then follow the markers from there.
Sure enough, following the cliff opened up a new space.
A bit different from what he'd imagined, though.
"...A grove?"
The area was densely packed with trees and thick boulders, forming a new terrain.
Slantingly grown trees as thick as waists and boulders big enough to call small hills stretched before him.
Yeah, this was a decent spot to hide from demonic pursuers.
"...But there's a lot of it."
Unlike Perforation Mountain, the space below the cliff spanned hundreds of zhang, cluttered with rocks and trees.
How long would it take to search all this for a marker?
"Is there even a hiding spot here?"
Did those Black Spot bastards give accurate info?
The orthodox group had definitely hidden in the space below the cliff.
Right here!
"...Where the hell could they hide?"
No matter how he looked, there was no space to hide.
It seemed cluttered with trees and rocks, but clear them away and it'd be flat ground.
Namgung Hyeok stared blankly ahead.
Nothing but trees and rocks in sight.
"Cliff behind."
That meant markers and a burrow somewhere here.
"Guess I'll look!"
Of course, hundreds of boulders and trees, but finding one marker? Piece of cake.
Find one marker, and spotting the burrow was quick.
Just take 108 steps in the direction the animal head faced.
Distinguishing the animal head from the marker was harder than finding the burrow.
"Alright, let's start."
Namgung Hyeok casually began searching trees and rocks for carvings.
"Nothing here."
"None here either?"
"This is just a scratch."
"Maybe farther back?"
"Not on the cliff?"
"Why... nothing? Why?"
Impatience crept onto Namgung Hyeok's face as he moved.
As he checked more trees and rocks, anxiety grew.
"Ha, just one. One. That's all I need."
Even after all these years, at least one should remain.
If it's Hoemok, if it's Hoemok...
That guy was so meticulous!
No way, right?
Namgung Hyeok's eyes and hands moved frantically.
Eyes scanning for markers, hands sweeping soil around trees and rocks.
A desperate voice burst from his lips.
"Ah, please. Pleeease!"
Finally straightening up after a long search, Namgung Hyeok stared blankly.
A bewildered voice escaped him.
"...Th-this is the end?"
Nothing.
Nowhere.
Not even a hiding spot, let alone traces.
Rivers and mountains change in a decade, and this was over seventy years.
Seventy years could remake the landscape seven times over—what about a tiny backyard hill?
The terrain flipping completely wouldn't be strange.
So the markers vanishing wasn't odd.
But...
It couldn't be.
A stifled groan punched through Namgung Hyeok's throat.
"Ah, aaaah!"
He gazed at the hundreds of zhang of space before him.
Packed tight with boulders and trees.
He could sprint end to end in one breath.
But if he had to comb this hellish terrain?
Dizziness hit him.
"Godfuckingdammit, what the hell am I supposed to dooo!"
Namgung Hyeok roared in fury.
* * *
"What do you mean, what?"
Namgung Hyeok gazed despondently at the rock-strewn terrain.
"Dig. Sigh."
He sighed, pulling a pickaxe from his bundle.
His eyes flicked between the sharp-tipped pickaxe and the space to excavate.
Wow, it's small.
How long to overturn all this land with it?
He'd thought a quick marker hunt and a few swings would do—didn't expect to flip hundreds of zhang of earth.
"Haa, back in the day, this would've been..."
Flipping a hundred zhang with one palm wind? Easy.
"Use people? Nah. More heads just means more rumors."
The fewer who knew a treasure's location, the better.
In this era, Hoemok's secret held value rivaling top-tier arts.
Hoemok was renowned as a pill-refining master even then—what more now?
If word got out, hordes would come foaming at the mouth.
So, solo it.
Solo...
Haa, solo.
Couldn't call them now, so Thunder Dragon Squad later.
Man, raised them as limbs, and here I am shoveling alone.
Namgung Hyeok steeled his faltering resolve.
"Yeah, for pill-refining arts, this is nothing."
He gripped the pickaxe tightly.
Hoemok's secret—focus!
"One month tops. One month!"
He hefted the pickaxe high.
Thud! Crack! Crack!
Each strike split the earth, shattering stones.
Chunks of rock flew, soil overturned, and Namgung Hyeok hummed.
"Hey, ten days maybe? How big can this be? Clear rocks and trees, done!"
Channeling Creation Heaven Bright King Art into the pickaxe tip.
Screeech! Boom!
Boulders exploded, trees snapped with cracks.
Pickaxe or axe? Hard to tell.
But the effect was tremendous.
"Hyaah! Take that! Smash it all-!"
Namgung Hyeok's bellow echoed across one flank of Perforation Mountain.
* * *
Kim Cheomsang looked glumly at Namgung Ryong.
"...Young Master, forgive me. I'm the one who deserves death. Of all times, to get caught then."
"Mm."
"No. It's all my fault. Never dreamed the Young Master would notice."
"Mm!"
"Aigoo, you did your best. I should've been more careful. Didn't know you were that sharp."
Namgung Ryong let out a few more grunts while eyeing Kim Cheomsang, who looked ready to cry.
"But don't worry too much."
"..."
"He might cause trouble out there, but he's not the type to get beaten up."
Nod nod.
Namgung Ryong nodded vigorously but grunted again.
"Our Young Master has his wits—he'll be back before the banquet."
"..."
"Yes, Young Master. When he returns, I'll grab him tight!"
As Namgung Ryong and Kim Cheomsang exchanged glances.
"...How are they even talking?"
Tak Hyeok-dong, watching from afar, couldn't hide his bafflement at their "conversation."
Jang Ung perked his ears, leaning in, then shook his head.
"Can't hear a thing. Seems like talking to himself..."
The Namgung household was one of the great mysteries.
How did Namgung Ryong and Kim Cheomsang communicate?
So Hye-yeon had stopped swinging her sword, staring blankly.
That's when silence—not quite silence—filled the annex.
Bang! Thud!
The annex door flew open with a crash, drawing all eyes.
Seeing the shadow at the door, Namgung Ryong shot up, brows furrowing, while Kim Cheomsang made a fuss, eyes bulging.
People looked startled, then gaped wider as the figure approached.
"Y-Young... Master?"
Kim Cheomsang stared blankly at Namgung Hyeok.
Covered head to toe in dirt, clothes torn here and there, shuffling in.
For a split second, they thought he'd been beaten up somewhere.
But his face looked like he'd lost a fortune at the tables.
Everyone gawked at Namgung Hyeok.
A face beyond despondent—utterly forlorn.
Namgung Hyeok collapsed weakly into a chair.
"...Hyeok?"
Namgung Ryong's voice carried worry, anxiety, impatience, anger, doubt—all of it. Namgung Hyeok raised his eyes feebly.
"Haaaa. Sighhh."
He seemed about to speak but let out a deep sigh.
Questioning looks mixed with concern on their faces.
No one had seen Namgung Hyeok like this—everyone was too stunned to speak up.
Namgung Hyeok clutched his face.
'...Haa, damn. Can't do this. I'm dying here.'
Pickaxing till dawn, and barely made a dent.
Thought it was just rocks and trees—turns out hard stone bedrock underneath.
Nearly threw his back out swinging.
'Haa, when will I finish?'
Overused his qi, wrecked his body—limbs felt foreign.
Watching his floppy arms and legs, he felt like crying.
'Called Perforation Mountain a booger, did I?'
Man, that wasn't a booger.
Regretting last night's thoughts, Namgung Hyeok realized.
Can't do this alone.
Needed diligent, silent workers who followed orders without complaint.
Who from Thunder Dragon Squad?
As Namgung Hyeok sighed again.
Namgung Ryong quietly called to him.
"Hyeok. Where did you... go..."
"Not in the mood to talk now, later..."
Namgung Hyeok irritably looked up, meeting Namgung Ryong's eyes.
'Hm? Wait.'
Silent, hardworking, obeys without question?
Namgung Hyeok blurted.
"Wanna go out together?"
"...Huh?"
"Come with me!"
Namgung Ryong's face filled with question at Namgung Hyeok's raised voice.